Meeting Report

REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD 17th APRIL 2007

Chairperson: Kay

Apologies for absence were received from Kate, Judy, Scott and Tony.

In attendance were Zoe, Les, Morag, Trish, Richard, Dave, Stephen, Barry, Peter, Ken, Kay, Ruth and Alex.

Welcome to a new member, Stephen who enjoys writing poetry and lyrics. Living locally, Stephen works at Landguard Fort with Dick.

Scribblers News:

A rather upset Kate phoned Dave from hospital Tuesday morning to explain that she could not attend the meeting. She had been admitted to Waveney Ward of Ipswich Hospital after an MRI scan and was expecting to receive the results the following day with an operation expected to follow later in the week. Wednesday update: Kate is now at home but has to attend a clinic on Friday when she expects to learn more about her operation. We’ll do our best to keep everyone informed. All our best wishes go to Kate at this worrying time.

Good news and bad from our friend Scott who emailed just before the meeting with the following message:
“I was supposed to attend tonight but I have been feeling ill for the last few days probably something to do with a friend's stag party last Saturday which has taken its toll due to old age.
“I'm afraid I won't be back to Scribblers for a bit longer as the dancing stopped for only two weeks, this being the second, and is due to start again next week. I will do my best though to keep in touch as a do miss you all.
“I have also just finished the Writer's News children's writing course which was okay, but nothing new really as it tells you to research your market and get an agent or hope someone will notice you on their slush pile. Which is what they all say and to make matters worse the last assignment was very poor as it told me ‘This is assignment 8 please do what you like‘. Not really what I paid for but I sent some work to be critiqued and was told it was good now all I needed was a market to send it to. VERY HELPFUL!!!
“Anyway now on to the important bit as you and most of the Scribblers are aware Aimee and I are getting married and one of the reasons I wanted to come tonight was to invite all of the Scribblers and their partners to Scott and Aimee's evening reception There will be a BBQ, but be aware a lot of people will be attending so food may rapidly disappear. As I said we are inviting all Scribbler's and partners so the more the merrier!”

Tonight Tony is giving a radio interview, but details of which station and for what are quite sketchy. Perhaps information will filter through very soon.

Other news:
Peter reports that it will be another two to three weeks before all the final documentation arrives from the bank to complete the transfer of treasurer from Caz and confirm the replacement of signatories. The whole process has seemed very slow, but at least one of the two outstanding bills has been paid in cash from the tea and coffee fund.

Keep an eye on the weblog at http://nar8or.blogspot.com where it is hoped that more regular posts will be made in the coming weeks with announcements and events. Alex had an awful job setting the weblog up in the first place, then, after quite a long period of stability, the rules changed, so to speak, and Alex and others wishing to post news onto the site were stopped from doing so. Fortunately Alex has again got the site up and running once more so things should return to normality soon.

Online Scribblers are hoping for more entries to their online competition running for members only, “Good Friday” is due to close at the end of this month. Go to http://onlinescribblers.com for further information and entry.

Talking of competitions, entries for THE BILL BUDNER SHORT STORY COMPETITION have all been read and Bill’s widow Maureen will shortly contact the winners of both the adult and children‘s section. The announcement will soon be made so it is worth keeping an eye on the local press, Felixstowe TV and, of course, our own weblog. Alternatively come along to our next meeting on 1st May. Many thanks go to Maureen for her lovely offer to run the competition in memory of her husband and our friend Bill.

The Lost Sock - how can you forget it? I understand from Felixstowe TV that there have been over 500,000 viewings from a world wide audience. Say it too quickly and you miss the fact that it is actually over half a million hits! Wow! That is some audience. Copies of DVD are still being sold though I understand that there aren’t too many left now. Also it can be loaned from Felixstowe Library.

Mentioning the library raises another point. From time to time questions are raised about where to research the many subjects for articles and books etc on a whole host of diverse projects.
The two local and obvious choices would be Felixstowe Library Alternatively there are three branches of the Suffolk Record Office, at Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds and Lowestoft. They hold staggering amounts of information in their collections. The main branch is in Ipswich and you can find details at Suffolk Record Office Members of the Scribblers have used the Record Office in the past, not least our local historian and Scribblers member Doreen Rayner and Diane who collected tomes of information for her History degree. These are two very precious places where a single visit will end that dreaded writer’s block!

The open themed 1,500 word assignment were read by Alex and Dave

Alex: Little Grandfather: Lovely lyrical story about life on Cyprus during partition

Dave: Homeward Bound: A haunting story about the call up and war.

The 500 word assignment themed on Suffolk

Barry: Going Bush Australian Style: A fragment of a driving life in Australia during the 1960s. Part of a book.

Peter: The Victim: Suffolk is the victim. The rage against the ‘Political Manifestos’, stupidities of policies that have (mis)shaped the county.

Ken: Suffolk: (Read by Dick) Lively account of a pair of gangsters driving to Suffolk.

Kay: Felixstowe Vignette: A day by the seaside.

Ruth: Two poems: ‘Mothers Day’ and ‘Ginger Bread Love’ : Two beautiful lyrical poems on being a mother.

Les: New Beginnings: About two fellows talking - decision against being the nice guy.

Trish: South Folk Funeral: Based on a Suffolk joke, the strangest lightly humorous funeral.

Richard: A County Love Affair: A lovely travel tour around idyllic Suffolk.

Stephen: 1st draft: An excellent first draft of a poem written during the meeting about motherhood.

Next time:

The 500 word homework topic chosen for our next meeting is ’MOVING’

The 1,500 word open themed homework will be written by Ruth and Les.

Our next Felixstowe Scribblers meeting is set for Tuesday 1st May at 7.30pm in the Café Libra at the Library and will be chaired by Dave.

Coming Soon to the Scribblers - a Trophy Competition for attending writers only - 750 word assignments on any topic - Work must be typed but without including your name. Everyone’s work will be read by another Scribbler and then everyone will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite. A trophy will then be presented to the winning writer and be held for 3 months until the next competition.

So until next time,

Keep Scribbling!